Sonnet 44
Sonnet 44 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Sonnet 44 is one of
Structure
Sonnet 44 is an English or Shakespearean sonnet, which contains three quatrains followed by a final rhyming couplet. It follows the typical rhyme scheme of the form, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, and is written in iambic pentameter, a type of poetic metre based on five pairs of metrically weak/strong syllabic positions. The fifth line exemplifies a regular iambic pentameter:
× / × / × / × / × / No matter then although my foot did stand (44.5)
- / = ictus, a metrically strong syllabic position. × = nonictus.
The sonnet is quite regular metrically (for example, a three-syllable "injurious" maintains regularity in line two), but implements a few variations, for example in the first and last lines:
× × / / × / × / × / If the dull substance of my flesh were thought, (44.1) × / × / / × × / × / But heavy tears, badges of either's woe. (44.14)
...which contain, respectively, a rightward movement of the first ictus (resulting in a four-position figure, × × / /
, sometimes referred to as a minor ionic), and a mid-line reversal ("badges").
Criticism
Critics have mentioned Sonnet 44 is directly coupled to Sonnet 45 and lacks a definite conclusion.[2]
Recordings
- Poeterra, for the 2014 album, When in Disgrace
- Paul Kelly, for the 2016 album, Seven Sonnets & a Song
References
- OCLC 4770201.
- ISBN 0520054865. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
Further reading
- First edition and facsimile
- Shakespeare, William (1609). Shake-speares Sonnets: Never Before Imprinted. London: Thomas Thorpe.
- OCLC 458829162.
- Variorum editions
- OCLC 234756.
- Modern critical editions
- Atkins, Carl D., ed. (2007). Shakespeare's Sonnets: With Three Hundred Years of Commentary. Madison: OCLC 86090499.
- OCLC 2968040.
- Burrow, Colin, ed. (2002). The Complete Sonnets and Poems. OCLC 48532938.
- OCLC 32272082.
- OCLC 15018446.
- Mowat, Barbara A.; Werstine, Paul, eds. (2006). Shakespeare's Sonnets & Poems. OCLC 64594469.
- OCLC 46683809.
- OCLC 36806589.